Tag Archives: led light

Despite the falling prices of new LED lights coming out, DIY approach is still the most cost-effective solution along with the highest level of custom-ability and an unmeasurable amount of fun and pride of building something yourself. In one of my previous reviews I wrote about Rapid LED solderless kit (check it here LINK), an interesting solution for people who are eager to go the DIY route but don’t want to hassle with the soldering part of it. Recently, staff at RapidLED made few changes to their solderless kits and I received the redesigned package for review. Let’s see what’s new in this DIY kit…… More:

GHL, a German company known in US mainly for their Profilux Aquacontroller, has a brand new LED light that has been already labeled as one of the most advanced, high-end fixtures available on the market today. Although GHL didn’t have a dedicated booth at 2012 MACNA, one of the coral vendors had the new light on display and I managed to learn some interesting things about this new product.… More:

Manufacturers of aquarium LED lights are doing everything to make their product stand out of the crowd an gather a steady customer base. The manufacturer of LED panel that is a subject of today’s review tries yet another approach to attract customers to it’s product. The AquaUFO light from Sunshine Systems (LINK) surely turns heads with it’s unforgettable name and interesting looks. Let’s find out what it offers and how well it performs in the remaining part of this review…… More:

Good news for everyone interested in DIY LED lights- Cree, one of the best known corporations manufacturing high power LEDs, just went public announcing a new emitter. A successor for the greatly respected XP-G chipset, the new Xlamp XP-G2 ffers up to 20% brighter light and better lumen to dollar ratio. XP-G2 has identical to it’s older version dimensions, which means all the optics made for xp-g should work with the second generation without any problems. This move allows Cree to shorten the manufacturing process and release it to markets much faster. Quick look at the data sheet (you can download it as a pdf file here: http://www.cree.com/led-components-and-modules/products/xlamp/discrete-directional/~/media/Files/Cree/LED%20Components%20and%20Modules/XLamp/Data%20and%20Binning/XLampXPG2.pdf ) reveals how powerful the new chipset is. The lumens output seems to be lower at the same current when compared to original XP-G, but the forward voltage on XP-G is lower at given current by approximately 0.1V, giving the new chipset higher actual lumens to watt ratio. It’s not revolutionary, but XP-G2 is clearly more energy efficient. The new dome lens gives a different light emission angle, 115 degrees instead of XP-G 125 degrees, making Cree’s XP-G2 a little narrower beam of light. The biggest advantage of the new XP-G2 is not the efficiency, but new materials used to built the chipset. Cree tried to lower the cost of LED manufacturing for a long time and with the use of silicone carbide as a build material, XP-G2 could be much more affordable than any previous high power LEDs. Cree didn’t publish any info about pricing yet, but if their claims prove to be true we can expect another LED revolution soon and a step forward for LEDs to replace other light sources in everyday use. I’ll keep you informed once I know more about the new LED. … More:

Predictions were correct- high power light emitting diodes are overtaking the aquarium industry and starting to show up in everyday lighting solutions, replacing other conventional light sources. Our hobby is currently experiencing a true LED revolution- almost every respectable company has at least one model of light fixture featuring light emitting diodes, with many more still in the making. On top of that, the industry shifts it’s focus from PAR wars to products featuring more control-ability on consumer’s end and offering a broader spectrum of light. After all, we underestimated the LED chip light capabilities- a single diode delivers a massive amount of highly directional light that’s capable of growing almost any type of photosynthetic coral spiece.… More:

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